Kembali
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars are 4-2 entering their bye week thanks to a tough loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday, but the loss did reveal quite a few things.
So, what did we learn about the Jaguars after their 34-31 loss to the Texans, and what does it all mean for the franchise moving forward? We break it down below.
Sometimes, the game is the game. The Jaguars ran into a buzzsaw in the form of a red-hot C.J. Stroud on Sunday and it felt like there were more than a few times that there was nothing they could do. The deep balls to Nico Collins and Jaylin Noel and the second touchdown pass to Foster Moreau were just outrageous passes. And when the Jaguars did get pressure on Stroud, he carved them up with the best EPA/dropback against pressure of any quarterback this week.
The Texans' defense seems human again, which is a good thing. But their passing game also looks very dangerous right now, and the Jaguars might have to see the Texans two more times depending on how things play out. There are quite a few other AFC quarterbacks a team would rather face in an important late-season game than Stroud right now.
Travis Hunter was certainly special against the Texans on Sunday, and the scary thing is he did it without even playing that much on offense. Hunter made major contributions to both sides of the ball, ranging from his red-zone interception to his four catches for 59 yards and a touchdown against the Texans on offense. It was the first game this year Hunter received multiple targets, and he responded with a significant uptick in production.
The rub, of course, is that Hunter still only ran seven routes. That is four more than he did against the Eagles a week before and three more than his previous season-high of four against the Patriots. The difference is that instead of being targeted one or zero times, like he had been in his previous four games on offense, he saw the ball come his way four times. The Jaguars need Hunter to be a part of the offense for it to be at its best, and they should start to expand his route tree and snap count while continuing with the recent increased volume.
Cam Little was absolutely stellar on his 60-yard field goal, and having a weapon like him is a big, big advantage for the Jaguars in nearly all cases. With that said, it almost felt like the confidence in Little to make the 60-yard kick with under two minutes left against the Texans forced the Jaguars into making a decision that didn't help them win the game. If the Jaguars had a kicker they did not have as much faith in, they likely would have just gone for it on 4th-and-4 from the Houston 42.
There is no telling if the Jaguars would have gotten it, of course. They had gained just six yards on three pass plays ahead of the fourth-down, there were a few drops, and perhaps Liam Coen had confidence in his defense getting one stop to keep the Jaguars in the game with three timeouts left. But the Jaguars' best chance to win this game was always to get that first down. Kicking it back to the Texans with two minutes left felt inevitable, but so did Little making his kick. Little is a special player, but this was a glimpse into how he can impact the flow of the game and critical decisions, even indirectly.